The banquet in the leopard room continued.

For Emperor Zhengde, the work and rest time was completely reversed day and night, which was different from the situation of Su Tong and Zheng Qian. These two people stayed late until late at most and basically didn't play all night, but for Zhu Houzhao, it would be boring if they didn't have the whole night.

The two of them have been looking for opportunities to talk about Empress Dowager Zhang and Empress Xia’s visit to Leopard Room. This is also Chen Xi’s explanation. They want to complete their mission.

As for whether Jiang Bin is present, they didn't care much. Although Jiang Bin was in the seat, he basically had no say. Zhu Houzhao was the master who arranged it. From beginning to end, they didn't know who the person invited to accompany him was.

Finally, the banquet was revolving in the middle of the night. After watching a bloody beast fighting performance, Zhu Houzhao finally gave them the opportunity to talk about things and asked with a smile: "Is there any discussion among the people recently? Especially about me?"

Su Tong and Zheng Qian often lingered in the Qinlou Chuguan and were very familiar with the market. Zhu Houzhao suddenly wanted to ask the people about him and was ready to listen to a few compliments.

Su Tong wanted to say something, but Zheng Qian snatched it first.

Zheng Qian said respectfully: "Now the capital is stable, and everyone is praising His Majesty's ability to govern the country."

"Yeah?"

Zhu Houzhao showed joy on her face. Although he was usually sensible, he was still willing to accept compliments from others, especially after drinking a few more glasses and drinking.

Su Tong clasped his fists and said, "That's right."

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh and said, "What I did is not enough. It is mainly because the ministers in the court are effective, and the two brothers have made contributions. This is the achievement achieved by the court working together."

"In this way, the two of you toast your Majesty." Zheng Qian stood up with a smile.

Su Tong and Zheng Qian stood up and raised their glasses. The riverside stood up reluctantly. Hua Fei and Li Fei were also stood up and toasted Zhu Houzhao together. Zhu Houzhao was happy to accept it.

After the drinks were taken, several people sat back.

Zheng Qian said again: "It is rumored outside today that the Empress Dowager and the Empress came to the Leopard Room. It seems that there is something to say to His Majesty. This incident is circulating in the market."

The smile on Zhu Houzhao's face disappeared instantly, and she frowned and asked, "What do you think are spreading among the people? When did the Empress Dowager and the Queen arrive at the Leopard Room?"

Speaking of this, Zhu Houzhao suddenly realized that the folk news could not be groundless, so she turned her head and looked at Jiang Bin, which was very intriguing.

Jiang Bin immediately stood up, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager and the Empress today... Yesterday I visited the Leopard Room. I blocked people and did not let him disturb Your Majesty's dream."

At this moment, Jiang Bin dared not hide it anymore and told the matter out.

Zhu Houzhao's face looked very ugly and said, "I don't know what even the people know. Jiang Bin, you are doing a great job!"

Zheng Qian and Su Tong were frightened when they heard this. They did not expect that this matter was directly related to the person in the same room. They said this now that they directly offended Jiang Bin. Although it seemed nothing, they were both celebrities around the emperor, Jiang Bin had military power at hand. Moreover, if Jiang Bin dared to directly stop the Empress Dowager and the Queen, it was obvious that this person was used to doing things wrong.

"Damn it."

Jiang Bin knelt on one knee and saluted Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao sat there, her face full of anger, but she did not get angry and punished her. She just said, "Today we will only talk about Fengyue, not about unhappy things, and I will deal with it when I look back... No, Jiang Bin, you will retreat now, I don't need you to accompany you! Brother Su, Brother Zheng, come, let's continue drinking."

...

...

Jiang Bin was driven out of the backyard of the leopard room by Zhu Houzhao, which was something that had never happened before.

He felt annoyed. He was obviously favored by the emperor, but suddenly two unclear officials came. They drank with the emperor and did not tell me which pot was not open to the pot. They told me about the visit of Queen Mother Zhang and Queen Xia to the Leopard Room.

Jiang Bin thought to himself: "Fortunately Your Majesty didn't know that I was falsely circulating the imperial edict, otherwise the consequences would be even more serious... But all I did was for the peace of Your Majesty. To put it bluntly, I did not care about honor and disgrace and did my best to do my best. Even if Your Majesty knew the inside story, he would not blame me."

Jiang Bin came out of the leopard room without stopping, walked through the emperor's bedroom and walked out of the door. Xiao Twist Bob dozed off in the corner of the hall. When he saw Jiang Bin coming out, he was a little surprised.

"Why did he come out?"

Xiao Tuozi did not go up to say hello, because the light in the place where he sat was extremely dim, and Jiang Bin did not realize his existence. Xiao Tuozi thought to himself, "How fond of His Majesty, His Majesty, let him attend the banquet? Why did he leave the table halfway? Is there something inconvenient? Or was he asked him to come out and do something?"

After Jiang Bin passed, Xiao Tuozi came out of the shadow and wanted to chase him out to take a look, but then realized something and turned to the inner courtyard. After passing a door, he saw a team of eunuchs who were delivering food and food coming from the imperial kitchen. Xiao Tuozi grabbed one of them and asked, "Is there something wrong with your Majesty's banquet?"

The little eunuch was disturbed and was about to exclaim, but he returned to calm after seeing it clearly that it was Xiao Twist. He replied respectfully: "Ah... Master Twist? I'm not sure, I should... be fine."

Xiao Taozi asked again: "Why did Lord Jiang come out? Your Majesty arranged for him to go out to do things?"

The little eunuch thought for a while and shook his head: "The specific situation is so small that I don't know very well. It seems that Lord Jiang disobeyed His Majesty for something and was driven out."

"Yeah?"

Xiao Taozi felt happy, but felt that this matter was a bit unreliable, so he waved his hand to let the eunuch leave. He stood there thinking for a while and decided to turn around and ask about Concubine Li's situation. After all, Concubine Li was the person involved, so the inside story should be clear.

...

...

It was almost dawn that Su Tong and Zheng Qian came out of the inner courtyard.

Xiao Guozi judged from the appearance of the two that they should have "returned with all their fun", but Zhu Houzhao did not come out of the inner courtyard, and said that she was not going to go back to the bedroom to rest.

After confirming that Zhu Hou could not show it, Xiao Guozi asked about the situation of Concubine Li and Concubine Hua and learned that the day was served by Concubine Hua, which meant Concubine Li would go back to her yard to sleep alone.

Xiao Taozi thought to himself: "Concubine Hua is out of favor, why did she suddenly suppress Concubine Li again? Concubine Li should be annoyed now?"

With concern, Xiao Zhuozi went to see Concubine Li, wanting to know what happened during the banquet.

After seeing Concubine Li, Xiao Guozi found that Concubine Li was not displeased. She was accepting the service of the palace maids with a calm face. She was about to take a shower and prepare to rest.

"Empress?"

Xiao Twist stood outside the gauze tent and dared not walk inside. Although he was an eunuch and could not be considered a man, Li Fei did not like someone to disturb her while she was bathing.

Concubine Li walked out from behind the screen, went to the bathtub, turned her head and asked, "What are you doing when you twist my father-in-law?"

"Empress, the villain has heard something, so I came to ask you for verification with you." Xiao Twisted to the side and said, "I heard that Concubine Hua was left by His Majesty to bed?"

The concubine Li had already entered the bathtub, and then the sound of water came and there were calm words: "It was me who took the initiative to avoid it, so that Concubine Hua could be favored by His Majesty... His Majesty always hoped that the women around me could get along well with each other. This was just to follow the flow... Who made that woman not benefactored by the emperor recently?"

Xiao Taozi sighed in his heart: "A woman's mind is really unpredictable. Concubine Li is also a very difficult person. It's really great to figure out His Majesty's mind!"

Xiao Tiaozi said again: "Your Majesty will definitely be appreciated by His Majesty. The Majesty really has the style of the Lord of the Six Palaces."

"What is the lord of the six palaces? The Ming Dynasty Palace does have lords, and there are two." Concubine Li's tone suddenly became cold.

Xiao Tuozi was stunned and suddenly realized that he had said the wrong thing.

At this time, Concubine Li said again: "You want to ask about Jiang Bin?" His Majesty summoned Lord Su and Zheng, and said at the dinner that the Empress Dowager and the Queen visited the Leopard Room yesterday. His Majesty knew nothing. How could he not be upset? He said that he wanted to punish Jiang Bin's crime... But don't count on too much for this matter, Your Majesty is just talking."

"ah?"

Xiao Guozi was originally happy, thinking that his biggest competitor, Jiang Bin, had been punished, and it might be Shen Xi who was making a move. Seeing victory in sight, he was shocked after hearing Concubine Li's analysis and asked: "Empress, Jiang Bin committed a crime of deceiving the emperor, and he falsely passed on the imperial decree..."

Concubine Li said: "Do you think if Your Majesty knew about the Empress Dowager and the Empress Leopard Room, how different was the imperial edict issued by Jiang Bin?"

"Well!?"

Xiao Guozi couldn't answer this question at all, but after careful consideration, he found that there seemed to be no difference, because Zhu Houzhao himself did not catch a cold about Empress Dowager Zhang and Empress Xia, and avoiding him was the best choice.

Concubine Li said again: "What you care about is when will Your Majesty drive Jiang Bin away, or when will Jiang Bin lose power? Let me tell you this. Jiang Bin's threat is much greater than Qian Ning before. Now his holy favor has not been more firm, so he has no scruples. I think it will be even worse in the future. To force him to fall, he must take action himself... Do you understand?"

Of course, Xiao Guozi understood, but he had nothing to say, because he could not control many things.

...

...

Indeed, there is only Shen Xi who can defeat Emperor Zhengde's favorite ministers.

In the past, Liu Jin and Zhang Yuan were precedents. Even Qian Ning's loss of power was somewhat related to Shen Xi's fuel. In Xiao Tuozi's mind, he had long regarded Shen Xi as a god, but because Shen Xi was high above, Xiao Tuozi often could not count on Shen Xi.

When the little twisted came out, Jiang Bin was waiting at the door of the emperor's bedroom to meet the saint.

Xiao Tiaozi went over and said, "Master Jiang, are you waiting for Your Majesty to come out? Your Majesty has sent an edict saying that he will not go to the bedroom to rest today and will stay in the backyard directly."

Jiang Bin nodded, with less arrogance on his body, but more vicissitudes of life, and said, "I'm sorry to tell my father-in-law that I'll go back to rest first."

After saying that, Jiang Bin turned around and was about to leave.

"etc."

Xiao Taozi called Jiang Bin, and Jiang Bin also stood upside down. Xiao Taozi went over and said, "Master Jiang, we all think you have done something wrong with yesterday. No matter how rigorous your relationship with the Empress Dowager and the Empress, we should not interfere with it as slaves, even if you are kind-hearted."

Jiang Bin frowned, not understanding why Xiao Wuzi said that.

Xiao Zhuozi sneered again: "With your personality, no one can tame it except Your Majesty, and our family has no ability. But our family still remembers the words you expressed loyalty when we first met you... If you suffer, remember to tell our family that our family will never sit idly by, and it will not be too late to join our family!"

Jiang Bin probably understood that Xiao Tiaozi was looking for an opportunity to gather him.

If it were the past, he wouldn't have paid any attention to this, but after being defeated in front of the emperor, he suddenly felt that Xiao Tiaozi was considered "feeling and righteous".

He hugged his fists, and without saying anything, he went straight to the front yard of the Leopard Room.

...

...

Jiang Bin encountered setbacks in front of the emperor.

In Zhu Houzhao's opinion, this is just a trivial matter, but in the eyes of the inner palace, it is great news, almost to the point of rushing to tell each other.

Even so, the lively event of the Shangyuan Festival was not as pleasant as this incident. Zhang Yuan showed the most obvious performance, because from a certain perspective, Jiang Bin was his biggest rival, one was the eunuch in charge of the seal, while the other was the most favored slander in front of the emperor.

On the morning of the Lantern Festival, Zhang Yuan received the emperor's order to "give gifts" to the homes of officials above the third rank in the capital.

It is not very strange that the emperor gave gifts to ministers, but it should have been completed before the New Year. However, this time Zhu Houzhao chose to give gifts after the New Year, which was also a sudden idea. The person who received the most gifts on the list of personnel was naturally Shen Xi.

Zhu Houzhao asked the gifts prepared by the inner palace to be not very expensive, with a total of less than 2,000 taels of silver, while Shen Xi's gifts accounted for almost half.

Others have gifts worth 10 taels and 8 taels, which are considered to be of high power. Zhang Yuan is naturally not responsible for the delivery of gifts from each company. He only gave Shen Xi's house, but in fact he came to ask for advice.
To be continued...